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Rivers still play an important role as transportation routes in summer,
but access to modern, diversified modes of transport has radically changed
the living habits of Nunavut's inhabitants. Local movements in and around
villages require jeeps, trucks and school buses, while four-wheel-drive
all-terrain vehicles can be seen everywhere in the less populated communities.
There is a single negotiable road outside the communities - it links the
Nanisivik mine to the port facilities of Arctic Bay (32 kilometres away).
For trips over longer distances, the snowmobile has replaced the dogsled
in winter for the most part, while small aluminum motorboats have long
since replaced the traditional kayak on the rivers in summer.
Nunavut is synonymous with enormous distances between communities and
vast areas of permafrost. In this environment, aircraft has proven to
be the ideal form of transportation for speedy travel. This transportation
mode has developed rapidly, to the point that all communities are served
on an almost daily basis. Major companies and smaller carriers now provide
rapid links with the cities to the south. Air transport also plays a major
role in the contribution of visitors to the economy of a number of communities.
However, shipping is still the most important transportation method,
since the resupply in oil and other basic products from the south is done
mostly by sea. In addition, a certain amount of merchandise from commercial
activities and the mining industry passes through Iqaluit, Nanisivik and
Baker Lake on its way south. Even though fishing continues to be very
widespread in the territory as a whole, most of the commercial fishery
is at Rankin Inlet, Cambridge Bay and Iqaluit.
The transportation links will continue to grow. Certain economic sectors
have been identified as having high development potential. New projects
in hydrocarbon and ore development, sport hunting and fishing, tourism
and ecotourism are only a few of the areas which will allow the various
modes of transportation to better serve Nunavut Territory.
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